Mazda’s confirmed it’s building two new crossovers for North America

Mazda has announced it will be building not one, but two new crossovers for the U.S. – and, presumably, the Canadian – market.

The first one was teased previously, is expected to be the CX-4 and will be revealed in Geneva, while the other is still in the concept and development stages.

North America CEO Masahiro Moro told Automotive News at the Chicago auto show that Mazda will release another crossover – besides the one to be released at Geneva – that will be built at a brand-new plant in Huntsville, Alabama.

Mazda is going to share the US$1.6-billion factory with Toyota, which will build the Corolla alongside the new crossover.

The other already-teased new vehicle headed to North America will likely be the CX-4, which is based on the brand-new, larger Mazda3 platform. (Both of the new crossovers, in fact, share that same platform.) It will be a more global vehicle sold in many markets, whereas the Alabama-built SUV will only be sold in North America.

The current CX-3 is long overdue for a refresh, while the other vehicles in the lineup, the CX-5 and CX-9, have recently received new faces. Although the Japanese automaker only makes six cars, nearly two-thirds of the sales go to small crossovers.

The new vehicle will start production at the Alabama plant around mid-2021.